Maximum Destruction (Max-D)
Maximum Destruction (Also known as Max-D) is a futuristic SUV Monster Jam Truck owned by Tom Meents. It was originally Goldberg before it became Team Meents and finally, Maximum Destruction. Maximum Destruction is one of the most popular trucks in Monster Jam, namely for commonly living up to its fitting name that best describes its freestyle performances, especially with Maximum Destruction creator Tom Meents behind the wheel. It has always been a fan-favorite to see this truck go up in racing against the other legendary monster truck Grave Digger, especially when piloted by Tom Meents and Dennis Anderson respectively. The two have been long time rivals in the monster truck industry, although the two are actually friends in real life. The truck's name and design is owned by FELD while Tom owns the chassis. There are presently five Maximum Destruction chassis, Tom Meent's regular chassis (Willman front engined chassis), his stunt chassis (also a Wllman front engined chassis, used for his double backflip and front flip attempts), Neil Elliott's chassis (Willman front engined chassis), Colton Eichelberger's chassis (CRD rear engined chassis), and Jared Eichelberger's chassis (CRD rear engied chassis). History In 2001, Tom Meents ran his final year behind the wheel of Goldberg, and the final appearance for the truck would be in the video game Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction. It can be speculated that the name for the truck was inspired if not directly taken from the video game as it came out less than two years before the trucks debut. In 2003, Tom Meents introduced Maximum Destruction (A second Maximum Destruction monster truck was driven by Neil Elliott) as his new name taking over 2002's Team Meents machine. However, it won neither the racing, nor freestyle championship that year at the Monster Jam World Finals 4. In 2004, he tied with Madusa and El Toro Loco for the win in freestyle at the Monster Jam World Finals 5. For the encore, Meents and Elliott brought out both Maximum Destruction monster trucks to entertain the crowd. In 2005, Neil Elliott took a one year break from racing and Phil Foster replaced him. Maximum Destruction enjoyed a lot of success. Tom dedicated his World Finals run to his friend Deric Tredholm from Make-a-Wish who had passed away. For the encore, fans enjoyed a freestyle show put on by rivals Tom Meents and Dennis Anderson at the same time. That same year, he jumped over an old house before completely smashing it to pieces. In 2006, he had drive shaft problems at the Monster Jam World Finals 7 and was seeded last in qualifying. He didn't win racing, but did jumped clear over a second truck being driven by Neil Elliott during freestyle, with Elliott's truck perched high atop the volcano obstacle, easily winning him the freestyle championship, and confirming once again his title as "King of Air". In 2007, he did not win at the Monster Jam World Finals 8; but, halfway around the world, at the show in Gothenburg, Sweden, he performed the first monster truck backflip (Technically, he finished the rotation, but had aid from the ramp he drove off to roll him), and tied Grave Digger for the win. Travis Pastrana tried to recreate the move for his MTV show Nitro Circus, but landed flat on his roof, much to Tom's amusement. In 2008, he got the pole position at the Monster Jam World Finals 9 and made it to the final round, but broke down and couldn't make the call. He didn't win freestyle either, but brought out another Maximum Destruction truck for an encore. In 2009, he won the racing championship at the Monster Jam World Finals 10. For the encore, he successfully completed a backflip before rolling over for the audience. In 2010, he made it to the championship round of racing at the Monster Jam World Finals 11, but lost to Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger. This was the only time they raced against each other in a World Finals championship race. In 2011, Tom ran a brand new chassis from the start of the season. He wound up having a large crash during a freestyle in Arlington, Texas. The whole front end was torn off, the motor blew, and both front shocks were ruined. Tom won Racing at the Monster Jam World Finals 12 that year, taking out long-time rival Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter. In 2012, Tom won Racing again at the Monster Jam World Finals 13, taking out Damon Bradshaw in Monster Energy. Later that year, he attempted first double backflip during the Path of Destruction finale in East Rutherford, NJ, but was unsuccessful. In 2013, the team celebrated its tenth anniversary with brand new body styles for all 3 drivers. Neil Elliott and Kreg Christensen received spiked bodies covered in chrome, while Tom received a body covered in orange LEDs. Tom won Freestyle at the Monster Jam World Finals 14, and completed the first successful double backflip at the encore, while Neil Elliott, Kreg Christensen and Chuck Werner did their own backflips. In 2014, Christensen left the Max-D team to drive independently in Australia. His replacement was announced to be Morgan Kane. At World Finals XV, Max-D got shut off in the Semi-Finals, which he then won in the redo of the race, but lost in the Finals, due to spinning in the turn, to Grave Digger the Legend being driven by Adam Anderson. In 2015, Morgan Kane began driving Max-D for the #MoreMonsterJam Tour and Neil Elliot began competing on the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Elliot and Kane would both win the respective tours, with Meents getting an invitation to the Monster Jam World Finals 16. This is the first time three Max-D's were invited to the World Finals. For World Finals 16, Neil Elliot drove a red Max-D and Morgan Kane drove a golden Max-D (which looked similar to the previous two trucks, Goldberg and Team Meents). Later that year in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on the 2015 Path of Destruction Tour, Tom attempted the first front flip in a monster truck, but was unsuccessful. He landed on the rear tires, causing the truck to bounce and not land on the front wheels, as required by the Guinness guidelines. Tom once again attempted a double backflip Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. In 2016, Morgan Kane switched from Max-D over to Team Grave Digger while Colton Eichelberger (Tom's stepson) switched over to Max-D and join his brother/Tom's other stepson, Jared Eichelberger, for both More Monster Jam tours. Colton drove a brand new gold Max-D for West More Monster Jam, Jared drove a brand new yellow Max-D in the East More Monster Jam tour, and Neil drove a red Max-D from the 2015 Monster Jam World Finals in the west coast. Meents drove in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. In the FS1 Series 2016 in Anaheim, CA, "Mike Wales", a former Monster Jam driver who passed away in 2016, had his name written on the truck instead of the usual "Tom Meents". Much controversy arose after Max-D's freestyle encore at the Levi Stadium show in Santa Clara, CA on April 9, 2016 when it was advertised that he would jump over six trucks (in an attempt to break a record of five at the Monster Jam World Finals 17 racing encore). Instead of actually jumping over six trucks, he actually jumped a ramp with three trucks on either side. Many fans criticized Monster Jam for false advertisement and claimed that the six truck record was invalid, since he only jumped the equivalent of three truck lengths (although vertical, it was still less than six trucks) and that he never actually jumped over them. Monster Jam later made a statement through their Instagram that the stunt was actually altered due to the track's muddy conditions due to rainy weather and that the stunt would be reattempted. He reattempted this at the MetLife Stadium show in East Rutherford, NJ, where he performed it successfully. In late 2016, Jared rans the candy apple red body on an old CRD chassis from Monster Jam University in Glendale, AZ in October and then the gold body on the same chassis in November in Jackson, MS. In December, Tom debuted a brand new chassis in St. Louis. The new truck was shorter then his others, but had the same chassis and shock heights as the others. The truck earned a racing win in Minneapolis a week later. Jared got a new chassis as well and debuted it in Salt Lake City in January. Chuck Werner ran a Max-D in Chile. In 2017, all Max-D's were back to the original gray/silver. Tom ran the FS1 Series East Tour and Neil ran in the West Tour. Colton and Jared will run the More Monster Jam Tour, Colton in the East Tour and Jared in the West Tour. Jared debuted a new truck, Max-D #7. After New Orleans, Tom suffered a lower back injury and was out from the end of January through the end of May. Colton took over for him while Blake Granger took over for Colton in the East Tour. Due to his injury, Tom did not compete in the Monster Jam World Finals 18. Dennis also sustained an injury, making this the first World Finals where both Tom and Dennis did not compete. The Red Max-D also returned for Saudi Arabia. Chuck Werner campaigned a rear engine Max-D in Chile, and picked up an overall event title. In 2018, the team celebrated its fifteenth year anniverary. Tom and Neil each ran a Monster Jam Stadium Tour, Colton and Jared once again ran on the More Monster Jam Tours, Colton in the Central and Jared in the East. Neil also received a new chassis. Tom was invited to the Monster Jam World Finals 19 in March. After winning Stadium Championship Series 1 on February 25, 2018, Neil received his own invite to World Finals 19 as well. Jared was also invited to the Double Down Showdown at the World Finals. Later that year at the World Finals 19 racing encore, five Max-D were run and performed different tricks including reverse backflips and stoppies. Gallery Glendale 013016 Posocco (27).jpg|Candy Apple Red Max-D circa 2016 460f1f93-ccaf-4182-a398-06c4116c6def.jpg|Neil's red Max-D for World Finals 16 Glendale 100816 EvanPosocco-23.jpg|Candy Apple Red on a rear engined chassis in 2016 65458jhkjhgkjhgklghuh0256.jpg|Candy Apple Red Max-D in 2017 in Saudi Arabia 12509154_10153802413245833_1536623374480524436_n.jpg|Gold Max-D in January 2016 12662616 10206164384688610 2140581275943694617 n.jpg|Gold Max-D February 2016 13055149 10154058794995833 2807729918667879841 o.jpg b54266c9-b252-4e7a-9b5f-29bb19b93054.jpg|Morgan's gold Max-D for World Finals 16 Maxresdefadddddddddddddult.jpg|Yellow Max-D DX 1228.jpg|Orange Max-D MaxD15.jpg|Max D in 2015 Maxdmmj.jpg|Max D in MoreMonsterJam Maxdspeedster.jpg|Max D Speedster in MoreMonsterJam Fdfsdfdsfs0.jpg|Maximum Destruction's original body on the stunt chassis Maxd atv.jpg|Max D ATV in MoreMonsterJam Maximum-Destruction.jpg|CRD Maximum Destruction in 2011 Maximumdestruction.jpg|Maximum Destruction in 2011-2012 Arlington2011.jpg|Maximum Destruction living to its name in Arlington 2011 Maximum-destruction.opof-35309-mid.jpg|Maximum Destruction 2010 MaxDBacklfip.jpg|Maximum Destruction mid the first public monster truck backflip attempt at WFX in 2009 MaxDArnhem.jpg|Maximum Destruction on a Patrick Chassis in Arnhem 2005 MaxD05.jpg|Maximum Destruction in 2005 Maximum Destruction Monster Truck.jpg|Circa 2004-2007 595.jpg|Maximum Destruction 2003 MaxD03.jpg|Maximum Destruction in its debut in 2003 MaxDRed.gif|Red Maximum Destruction die cast which never came to the real truck S-l160dddd0.jpg|Concept of the red Maximum Destruction MJAT_cards_MaxD(1).jpg chromemaxd.JPG|Rare chrome Max-D released in 2003 TF-14-Bridge-Direct-Kastors-Korner35.jpg|Cancelled Maximum Destruction C3 Construction Monster Jam building set toy. maximumdestructionrender.jpg|Maximum Destruction's Digital Truck Render in Monster Jam: Path of Destruction. 2010 SE-MD Maximum Destruction (3).jpg|Whip Creamer from the 2010 Hot Wheels Monster Duo 2-Pack IMG 4128.JPG|2016 Red Max-D toy max-d 2016 gold.jpg|2016 gold Max-D original render with a front engined chassis opposed to the rear engined CRD chassis in real life max-d 2016 red.jpg|2016 red Max-D original render max-d 2016 yellow.jpg|2016 yellow Max-D original render with a front engined chassis opposed to the rear engined CRD chassis in real life Monster-Jam-Speedsters.jpg|Yellow Max-D speedster in the East Coast #MoreMonsterJam tour 1913689 10206149809050656 2809146597580781897 n.jpg 12472416_514256692116284_5068791164970254415_n.jpg|2016 Max-D toy Sacramento_012916_EricMeyers (12).jpg|Gold Max-D speedster in the 2016 #MoreMonsterJam West Coast tour Baltimore_022716_DeAngelis (8).jpg|Yellow max-D ATV in the 2016 #MoreMonsterJam East Coast Tour CouncilBluffs_010916_BrettMoist (22).jpg|Gold Max-D ATV in the 2016 #MoreMonsterJam West Coast Tour ment137c.jpg|Original render Screenshot 2017-03-16-20-57-35.png|Original Announcement 2015_164_maxd.jpg 2015_124_maxd.jpg 8676458_orig.jpg 2361538182_47918d1474_b.jpg|Maximum Destruction motocycle S-lsdfdsdfdf1600.jpg|2016 Gold Max-D toy 2016 35-Max-D (2).jpg 2016 50-Max-D (2).jpg 2016 61-Max-D (2).jpg NVArt Creatures MaxDFathead.jpg Unnamasdasdasffgggged.jpg|Monster Truckin' Pals Cartoon Max-D 517tN23LIzL._SX355_.jpg|Monster Jam Truckin Pals Plush originaldsds.jpeg maxdtoyprototype.jpg|Hot Wheels prototype S-l16kjkjkk00.jpg|original render S-l1sdfdf600.jpg|2002 Toy, featuring the original logo and designs. 20171116 204526.jpg|2018 Walmart Exclusive American Flag Design 29511255_1621688091240878_8571446402774840010_n.jpg|Gold Max-D in 2018 29570938_1621687977907556_6137787163030513793_n.jpg|Original Maximum Destruction in 2018 28828023 874811576060792 8995723430659334093 o.jpg|The Black-Out Max-D Category:Trucks Category:FELD Motorsports Category:Hot Wheels Trucks Category:Stunt Trucks Category:Monster Jam World Champions Category:Fox Sports 1 Point Series Champions Category:More Monster Jam Champions Category:Current Competing Trucks Category:Max-D